Books Into Movies

Both fiction and nonfiction books provide movie makers with rich sources for films.  Here are some of the upcoming movies based on books:

January

The Fifth Wave is an adaptation of Rick Yancy’s Young Adult book of the same title about an alien invasion and its aftermath.  The attacks came in waves, each with a different focus.  Now very few humans are left alive.  Cassie Sullivan is one of them.  Her parents are dead but she hopes her younger brother is still alive, and she will do whatever it takes to find him—and to survive.  The last book in the trilogy is scheduled to come out in 2016.

13 Hours is based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s book 13 Hours:  The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.   It’s the true story of six American security operators who fought to protect the Americans stationed in Libya.  The heroic efforts of these men prevented a greater loss of life during the now infamous attack.

The Finest Hours tells the story of one of the greatest rescues in Coast Guard history.  In February of 1952, a storm caused not one but two freighters to split in half.  With only a small boat, four courageous men set out to try to find and rescue the survivors of one of the freighters.  The script is based on the book of the same title by Michael J. Tougias and stars Christ Pine, Casey Affleck, and Eric Bana.

February

February and Valentine’s Day go hand in hand, so it’s no surprise that the movie adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Choice is scheduled for that month. Veterinarian Travis Parker isn’t too impressed with new neighbor Gabby, especially when she accuses his dog of impregnating her pure-bred Collie but there is still an undeniable attraction.  As usual, have a hanky handy!

Children, former children, and readers should check theatres in February for the film adaptation of Katherine Paterson’s The Great Gilly Hopkins.  This is the story of a foster child who is shuffled from home to home because she’s considered brilliant but difficult—to say the least.  Desperate to have her real mother come for her, Gilly hatches a plan.  The stellar cast includes Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, and Glen Close.  Paterson’s son wrote the screenplay. Trivia:  Katherine Paterson graduated from Bristol’s own King College.

March

Allegiant, the third movie based on Veronica Roth’s popular YA dystopian series should be in theatres March 18.  The books are Divergent, Insurgent  and Allegiant. Roth also wrote Four, a series of five short stories told from the perspective of Four, one of the characters in the series.  

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a pilot, a poet, and an aristocrat, but he is probably best known for his books The Little Prince.  A new stop-motion animation version of that classis book is scheduled for March 18. While the book is usually shelved in the children’s section, all ages can appreciation this thoughtful tale of a pilot who meets a strange little boy who claims to be from another planet.

Finally, The Young Messiah should be in theatres starting March 11.  It stars Sean Bean as a Roman soldier in this story of Jesus’ childhood.  It’s based on the novel Christ the Lord:  Out of Egypt by Anne Rice and which begins when Jesus is seven and the family is living in Egypt.  Rice wrote a second book entitled:  Christ the Lord:  The Road to Cana.

Read 'Em Before You See 'Em: Books into Movies

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          Liam Neeson is becoming the go-to guy for thoughtful action heroes.  On September 19, he’ll be starring  in “A Walk Among the Tombstones,” playing Matthew Scudder, Lawrence Block’s recovering alcoholic PI.  In this case, Scudder is hired to find out who kidnapped and murdered the wife of a drug kingpin.

·         Patricia Highsmith is probably best known for her novel  The Talented Mr. Ripley which was made into the movie with Matt Damon.  Another of her novels is coming to the screen in “The Two Faces of January,” starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, about a con man. It opens August 28.

·         A highly anticipated movie is “Gone Girl,” from the recent best-seller by Gillian Flynn.  The book caused much discussion in our Nevermore Book Club! Love it or hate it, it did have people talking. Ben Affleck stars in this film about a man whose wife disappears, and who may know more than he’s telling the police. The movie opens October 3.

·         Nicholas Sparks continues his string of books into movies with “The Best of Me.” Two high school sweethearts reunite after many years apart.  This is a Sparks book, so take lots of tissues to the October 17^th opening.

·         Cheryl Strayed’s memoir “Wild” became a book club favorite and now it’s a movie starring Reese Witherspoon.  After a number of problems including a divorce, Strayed decided to try and rediscover herself with an impulsive thousand mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. The movie is scheduled for December 5.

·         Fans have been waiting a year for the final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit:  The Battle of Five Armies.”  On December 17 the wait will be over at last.  Probably enough said about that, because if you don’t know the book or movies by now, this is probably just not your genre!

Having some big films open on Christmas Day seems to be something of a new tradition.  This year one such anticipated film is “Unbroken,” which tells the true story of a young man who became an Olympic runner and a Japanese POW.  Louis Zamperini’s story is an inspirational story of the human spirit.  The book Unbroken was written by Laura Hillenbrand who also wrote Seabiscuit. Angelina Jolie directed the movie.

      The film version of  Joe Hill's creepy novel  Horns has Daniel Radcliffe in the role of Ig Perrish, a young man who awakens after a wild night to find that he has grown horns. People also seem compelled to tell him dark secrets. The movie is slated to appear in theaters on the appropriate day of October 31. (Joe Hill is Stephen King's son, by the way.)

Finally, for those of us who don’t make it out to the theaters much, there’s some exciting TV news.  Hallmark Channel is rebranding itself as Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, and as part of that move they are filming Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden books.  “Roe” is a librarian with a taste for mysteries who becomes involved with crimes.   The books are:
1. Real Murders
2. A Bone to Pick
3. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
4. The Julius House
5. Dead Over Heels
6. A Fool and His Honey
7. Last Scene Alive
8. Poppy Done to Death  

Harris is best known for Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires/True Blood books, but there’s not a shapeshifter in sight in these mystery novels. 

  Also, this August will see the premiere of the  TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series will do on Starz network.  Gabaldon's fantasy about Claire, a modern woman who finds herself back in eighteenth century Scotland and who falls in love with Highlander Jamie, has a very strong fan base. The books are:
1. Outlander
2. Dragonfly in Amber
3. Voyager
4. Drums of Autumn 
5. The Fiery Cross
6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes
 7. An Echo in the Bone
8.Written in My Own Heart's Blood 

If the series doesn't satisfy, at least there's the new installment in the saga, Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  This is a series best read in order. 

For information about the TV series, click here. 

Read 'Em Before You See 'Em: Young Adult Books

The rush to turn Young Adult books into movies has not abated! Many adults are discovering that YA books can definitely be worth reading:  a good book is a good book. Here are some upcoming movies based on YA books coming to a theater near you:

·         “If I Stay” is the story of a young woman who is in a coma after an accident. She sees her life as it was, where she is now, and must make a choice: to face a very different life or to go to the light. The book (and its sequel, Where She Went) is by Gayle Forman and is a teen favorite.  The movie opens August 22.

·          “The Maze Runner” is based on the YA series by James Dasher.  Thomas awakens in a glade inside a maze, but has no memory of anything before.  He’s one of a group of boys struggling to survive and to find a way out in this futuristic movie due in theatres this September.  It joins the very popular “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” series as a big budget movie with strong teen following. It’s coming to theaters September 19.

·         Speaking of “Hunger Games,” the final book has been split into two movies.  “Mockingjay, Part I” is scheduled for release on Nov. 21.

·         “The Giver” stars Jeff Bridges in an adaptation of the award-winning book by Lois Lowry.  Jonas lives in a seeming idyllic community where everyone gets along and there is no war or suffering. Then he is singled out to be given the memories and secrets of his world from an old man known as The Giver.  The book came out in 1993 and became an instant classic. Let’s hope the movie does it justice! We’ll find out starting August 15.

·         “White Bird in a Blizzard” is based on the novel by Laura Kasischke. Sixteen year old Evie is trying to move into adulthood, struggling to escape the tightly proscribed world her parents have created.  Then her mother disappears. Shailene Woodley and Christopher Meloni star, and the opening is scheduled for September 25.

        While YA books seem to be the most prized for movies, children’s books have made their own impression.  Recent titles turned into film have included “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and William Joyce’s "Epic" which was based on his book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.   Next up will be “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” based on the book by poet Judith Viorst. Viorst wrote the book after noticing that  her youngest son, Alexander, was prone to having "bad days."  The book became a musical play, and now it's going to be a movie.   Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star in the family comedy which opens October 10.